The standard trope is that the playoffs are a new season, and that what happened in the regular season doesn’t matter now, but Portland Timbers fans wouldn’t mind if the team continues to play at as high a level in the USSF Division II 2010 quarterfinals as they did in the final 10, undefeated, games of the regular season.

And the 2010 Cascadia Cup champions wouldn’t mind handling the Vancouver Whitecaps in the playoffs in a similar manner to how they handled them in the regular season (the Timbers won twice and drew twice).

The Timbers’ chance to continue their 2010 success begins tonight, when they face the Vancouver Whitecaps in the first leg of a two-leg, aggregate goals USSF Division II Quarterfinal playoff series. Kickoff is at 7:30pm.

Watch the match on FSN at 7:30pm, or even better go watch it with your fellow fans at a Portland Soccer Bar. I’ll be at the Cascade Brewing Barrel House watching the match with Timber Jim!

Unfortunately Futty Danso won’t be available for today’s match (or the second leg on Sunday in Portland), as he’s been called up for national team duty. Stephen Keel will fill in for him on the back line.

Previews

• Quarterfinal First Leg – Vancouver Whitecaps v. Portland Timbers by mao at the Portland Timbers USL Blog at The Offside
• Portland Timbers are prepared for challenge from Vancouver in USSF playoffs by Geoffrey C. Arnold at The Oregonian
• Playoff Preview: Timbers vs Whitecaps Game 1 by Kevin at Dropping Timber
• Timbers open postseason play against Whitecaps at PortlandTimbers.com
• Timbers open second-division playoffs by Paul Danzer at The Columbian
• Coverage of playoff series game 1 – Timbers at Vancouver by Kip Kesgard at OregonLive.com
• Whitecaps face tough competition in Portland Timbers by Bruce Constantineau at the Vancouver Sun
• Caps must be physical with Portland strikers by Marc Webber in The Province

Yup, Timbers beat the Whitecaps last night. Ryan Pore – you can not stop him!

Sigh, and I missed it 🙁

Fortunately, quite a few people did make it to the match; here are some of the reports:

Game 4: Timbers 2 – Vancouver 1 by mao at The Timbers USL Blog at The Offside

The first game of the Cascadia Cup series was full of fouls, yellow cards and even a sending off. But the final result was once again all about Ryan Pore (pictured) who bookended the game with goals in the seventh and eighty-sixth minutes to give Portland Timbers a 2-1 victory over Vancouver Whitecaps in front of about 5800 at PGE Park. Pore’s second goal came just one minute after Futty Danso was sent off for his second yellow card and was thus a shorthanded goal. Add that header to the early free kick and Pore now has six goals in four games for top of the table Timbers as Portland enter a two-week break. [more]

Whitecaps fall to the Timber, losing 2-1 in Portland by Bruce Constantineau at The Vancouver Sun

League-leading scorer Ryan Pore ended the Vancouver Whitecaps undefeated season Thursday when he headed home a long cross late in the game to beat Vancouver keeper Jay Nolly and seal a 2-1 victory for the Portland Timbers at PGE Park in Portland. [more]

Portland 2, Vancouver 1: Pore strikes twice as Timbers survive foul-filled match at The Oregonian

The Timbers and Whitecaps might be moving up to Major League Soccer together next season, but if anything is certain after Portland’s 2-1 victory over Vancouver on Thursday, the Northwest rivals won’t be entering the big leagues hand-in-hand. [more]

Shorthanded magic from Ryan Pore as Timbers top Whitecaps 2-1 in a thriller by Allison Andrews at The Timber Mill

But instead, the Timbers stayed on the attack, and it didn’t take long to pay off. About a minute later, Timbers midfielder James Marcelin played a long diagonal cross into the Whitecaps box, and with only two Timbers in the box, along with five Whitecaps, it was Pore who rose above everyone and headed a shot just inside the right post past a diving Nolly, and a the rare shorthanded goal had given the Timbers a late 2-1 lead. [more]

Pore scores twice in Timbers’ 2-1 win over Vancouver at PortlandTimbers.com

PORTLAND, Ore. – Midfielder Ryan Pore continued his early-season scoring streak with two more goals as the Portland Timbers defeated the Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1 Thursday night at PGE Park. With the win, the Timbers remain unbeaten to open the season. [more]

Check out post-game interviews with Gavin Wilkinson, Steve Cronin, and Ryan Pore at The Woodwork: Match Day – Vancouver Whitecaps April 29 2010

And the highlight reel:

And I think we have room for one more recap of last weekend:

Timbers Blazers Timbers Weekend by Lucas Grzybowski at The Woodwork

Stepping out of the office a little early on a Thursday afternoon, heading to the pub to sample a new beer, brewed in honor of the MIGHTY PORTLAND TIMBERS, before going to see those very Timbers take on some crummy expansion team that evening: I can think of worse things in this world. So that’s what I did. Woo woo woo goes the choo choo choo and I’m at the Widmer Gasthaus. They put out a Timbrrr Ale, which turned out to be a sort of lighter (and more drinkable) version of their Brrr winter ale. A couple of pints of that really went down like a beauty, then we picked up some new Widmer-branded PTFC schwag and hopped a train back downtown for proper pregame schmoozing and whathaveyou. [more]

In player, and former player, news:

Forward Mandjou Keita returns to Portland at PortlandTimbers.com

PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Timbers today announced that forward Mandjou Keita has returned from his loan assignment with top-flight Indian club Salgaocar Sports Club. He arrived in Portland this afternoon and is available for selection when the Timbers play host to the Vancouver Whitecaps at PGE Park on Thursday. [more]

Josh Wicks takes an unwanted, unforgiving detour by Craig Stouffer at The Washington Examiner

Josh Wicks had never been to RFK Stadium Will Call before this evening, yet that’s where he had to go in order to retrieve the ticket left for him earlier this evening by Clyde Simms for D.C. United’s U.S. Open Cup qualifier against FC Dallas. And he laughed at the idea of a pass that would let him visit his old teammates afterward. [more]

In ownership news:

Go Northwest, Young Man by Ryan Bradley at BusinessWeek

Being the son of a multimillionaire who happens to be a former U.S. Treasury Secretary and Goldman Sachs CEO ought to be easy. When your father’s net worth is estimated at more than $700 million, procuring a $16 million loan to finance the purchase of two Portland minor-league sports franchises, the Beavers baseball team and the Timbers soccer club, isn’t terribly hard. However, it’s a problem if Dad leads a taxpayer bailout of Wall Street just as you’re trying to get taxpayer help for a new stadium. [more]

In MLS related news:

Portland no place for English retirees by Bruce Constantineau at The Vancouver Sun

Many English Premier League and Championship League players are keen to play in Major League Soccer next season but they’ll have to come with the right attitude to land in Portland.

“They can’t come over here to retire,” Portland Timbers coach and general manager Gavin Wilkinson said in an interview. “They have to look at how they can come here and benefit the organization and the game.” [more]